Menu

InsightsonSportingDevelopments

Tag Archives: football

Italian football Last weekend, four Serie A fixtures were suspended. This weekend, five Serie A fixtures taking place in affected territories in the north of Italy will be played behind closed doors in response to a new decree passed by the Italian government. This will have a direct impact on the clubs’ revenue. Clubs will … Continue Reading

Last year, Sports Shorts reported on the opportunities for football clubs looking to get involved in the world of esports. Recent news indicates that other footballing stakeholders are also alive to these opportunities; earlier this month Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale launched a new esports team called ‘Ellevens Esports’. Bale co-founded the new … Continue Reading

Last year, Sports Shorts reported on proposals for a combined Dutch and Belgian football league – a so-called ‘BeneLiga’. Talks of a merger appear to be gathering pace in the early part of this year, with Inside World Football reporting that a meeting recently took place between the Belgian and Dutch footballing authorities, alongside eleven … Continue Reading

Ajax’s run to the 2019 UEFA Champions’ League semi-final – European football’s premier club-cup competition – provided a welcome dose of nostalgia for those who remember the glory-days of Johan Cruyff in the 1970s and the Champions’ League winning team of 1995. However, in recent years, football clubs with rich histories such as Ajax, Feyenoord, … Continue Reading

Although it is trite to say that modern football clubs are very much run as businesses, there is often little consideration paid to the nuts and bolts of how these businesses work. As businesses, football clubs are not immune from the challenge of poor cash flow, which is prevalent across many industries. As such, clubs … Continue Reading

In part 1 of ‘whose data is it anyway’, we considered the position of Football DataCo and Betgenius, with particular reference to the experience of a Hull City fan who was questioned in relation to “unauthorised data gathering” during a match against Reading. In this, the final part of our two-part series, Sport Shorts considers … Continue Reading

In the first of a two-part series, Sports Shorts looks at the ownership of data collected at football matches. With the new football season still in its infancy, fans of many clubs remain full of the optimism that comes with the sensation that anything is possible in the months to come. When Daniel Mawer arrived … Continue Reading

Bury Football Club’s recent expulsion from the English Football League (“EFL”) was a very sad day for football. Bury was founded in 1885, had won two FA Cups and had just been promoted to EFL’s League One.… Continue Reading

Gambling and football – two words that go hand-in-hand for a lot of football fans. For many punters, having a flutter on a match-day is an essential part of their footballing experience. Betting companies looking to attract customers spend significant sums on advertising, but it can be difficult to get things right, especially when it … Continue Reading

The importance of keeping certain information confidential in sport should not be underestimated. Knowledge of even the smallest piece of information relating to an opposing club or rival’s team selection, tactics, recruitment targets or commercial arrangements can give the club in receipt of such information a significant advantage both on and off the pitch.… Continue Reading

A report from Kick It Out, the anti-discrimination charity, found that reports of racism in English football rose by 43% last season, from 192 instances to 274. Meanwhile, reports of faith-based discrimination rose by 75% from 36 instances to 63. It is the seventh consecutive year that reported incidents of discrimination in football have increased. … Continue Reading

For some people, the idea of watching someone else play a video game holds no appeal whatsoever. However, watching eSports is becoming an increasingly popular activity for millennials and Generation Z with viewing figures rivalling some traditional sports. As the audience for eSports grows, so do the revenues created by the industry. According to recent … Continue Reading

Last month, in recognition of International Women’s Day, Sports Shorts celebrated recent successes in women’s sport (apologies to Dina Asher Smith who wasn’t mentioned… there were too many examples to choose from!). While we celebrated the achievements of women in sport, we also recognised that work still needs to be done to improve the overall … Continue Reading

Between 2016 and 2019 the Premier League was paid a record breaking £5 billion for UK rights by broadcasters for 168 games a season. A new deal, effective from 2019 to 2022, will see the Premier League make at least £4.46 billion from the UK rights to broadcast matches (with one broadcaster not disclosing how … Continue Reading

A clip of Australian A-League referee, Jarred Gillett, went viral last week for all of the right reasons. The Australian referee was in charge of officiating an A-League fixture between Western Sydney and Brisbane Roar and agreed to wear a microphone throughout the 90 minutes as part of an experiment.… Continue Reading

Football and blockchain: It may not be the most obvious of pairings, but stakeholders in the football world are beginning to dip their toes in the water, when it comes to using blockchain technology in their commercial operations. Readers of Sports Shorts may have fond memories of schooldays spent collecting trading cards or stickers depicting … Continue Reading

The NFL has announced that it is “putting the fun back in football” by relaxing the rules governing touchdown celebrations, to allow players “more room to have fun after they make big plays”. The letter to fans from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell promised (with the help of some illustrative GIFs) the return of snow angels, … Continue Reading

Football and prison: Two worlds that rarely meet, but when they do, it’s sure to be a headache for the football clubs involved. Recently a Brazilian goalkeeper by the name of Bruno Fernandes de Souza was signed by Boa Esporte. Ordinarily the signing of a new player would be an unremarkable event except for fans … Continue Reading

The FA and Nike are reportedly close to signing a new sponsorship deal, to take effect on the expiry of their current agreement, which is set to expire in 2018. The new 12-year agreement is reported to be worth £400 million. Whilst this new deal is, on one level, “the most lucrative England kit sponsorship … Continue Reading

Last month, Sports Shorts blogged about the rise in popularity of eSports and the wealth of commercial opportunities this presents. In the intervening weeks, eSports has again hit the headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, the NBA’s 76ers have purchased two eSports teams (Dignitas and Apex), and market research company Newzoo … Continue Reading

ABOUT THE Squire Patton Boggs Sports & Entertainment Group

Our international Sports & Entertainment group has market-leading experience in the legal, commercial and regulatory issues affecting the sports industry.

We bring you a dynamic team of sports specialists, fully immersed in the business and abreast of new developments and opportunities.

Operating efficiently and commercially, we deliver clear, straight-talking advice and work with our clients to achieve results on time and on budget. We have acted for national and international governing bodies, national Olympic committees, leading clubs, kit manufacturers, sports marketing agencies, player agencies, sponsors, banks, investors and individual sports people.